Gianpiero Petriglieri is Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour at INSEAD, Author, Leadership Expert and an Advocate for Humanity and Cosmopolitanism.

An Italian psychiatrist turned management professor at INSEAD, Gianpiero has chaired the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on new models of leadership, and was recently named one of the 50 most influential management thinkers in the world by Thinkers50. He blends his clinical background, academic research, and business expertise into a unique perspective on what it means, and what it takes, to become a leader.

What does it take to move around without losing your roots? How can leaders be more trustworthy and foster meaning and commitment in the workplace? Why do some organizations struggle to attract talent, while others keep people’s loyalty even after they leave? How do you nurture a common culture while honouring the voices of a diverse workforce? These are the challenges that Gianpiero’s insights and advice will help you tackle.

Gianpiero taught the “Leading People and Groups” core course in the INSEAD MBA for five years, receiving the students’ Outstanding Teacher Award, and now teaches the “Practical Wisdom in Business” course. He has received numerous Dean’s Commendations for Teaching Excellence in MBA and Executive Education over the years. Gianpiero has held Visiting Professor positions at the Harvard Business School, and at Copenhagen Business School. Prior to joining INSEAD, he contributed to executive programs and to the MBA at IMD.

His award-winning work documents the rise of ‘nomadic professionalism,’ where authenticity and mobility have replaced loyalty and advancement as hallmarks of virtue and success. And it reveals how to humanize work and make the most of leadership development investments—in oneself and others—in this age. His research appears in top academic journals and is often featured in a range of media including the BBC, Financial Times, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, and BusinessWeek among others. He writes regularly for the Harvard Business Review, where his essays have been included among the “ideas that shaped management.”

Building on two decades of experience studying and working with companies around the world, Gianpiero has refined a unique approach to leadership development that aims to deepen and accelerate the development of individual leaders, as well as to broaden and strengthen leadership communities within and across organisations. At INSEAD, he directs the Management Acceleration Programme, the school’s flagship executive programme for emerging leaders, and chairs the initiative for Learning Innovation and Teaching Excellence. He also designs and directs customized leadership development programmes for multinationals in a variety of industries.

An energetic, insightful, and engaging speaker, Gianpiero presents provocative ideas with a gentle touch. He builds interaction into every talk, regardless of duration and audience size. He combines cutting edge research with attentive pre-work to deliver deep insights and practical advice most relevant to the challenges and aspirations of each audience.

Executives at every level and in every industry will be inspired and empowered by his views on how to foster trustworthy leadership, strong communities, and meaningful work.

Gianpiero holds a Medical Doctorate and a specialization in Psychiatry from the University of Catania Medical School, Italy, and a diploma in Advanced Organizational Consultation from the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations in London. He has practiced as a psychotherapist and often serves on the staff of group relations conferences in Europe and the United States.

KEYNOTE TOPICS:

Competence is not enough: Leading and learning in the age of nomadic professionalism

All alone now: what to do when the gig economy comes to the corner office

Self-awareness is a contact sport: why we need others to become our selves

HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW ESSAYS:

Tim Leberecht and I were inspired by Andrés Iniesta poetic, quiet, solitary farewell to FC Barcelona to write about endings—an aspect of working lives that gets far less attention than the action shots. And yet, as careers get longer and more fragmented, endings are ever more frequent if not always so meaningful. A working life without endings, we argue, is like a story without punctuation. The longer it goes on, the less sense it makes. Here goes: Andrés Iniesta’s Farewell, and How to Make Endings Count at Work

I wanted to share with you a new HBR essay I wrote with my colleague Svenja Weber. It was born of a conversation about insecurity at work, something we have both experienced and encountered very often. It became an argument against the dangers of individual-based interpretations of insecurity, and the deceptively practical prescriptions for overcoming it. Those inward turns and exhortations to discipline, we argue, are like insecure ruminations. They stop us from seeing and subverting the social forces that keep us in our (insecure) place— at war with ourselves and striving for peace. What’s the alternative then? Well, you’ll have to read the piece: To Overcome Your Insecurity, Recognize Where It Really Comes From

The piece ties together research on mobile talent and independent working lives. It argues that mastery is a most valuable pursuit in a fluid world of work, and we can only achieve it when we build ‘open tribes.’ I spell out what those unusual tribes look out, and how they set us free. I also raise the question of whether the contemporary workplace is making us more tribal.To take charge of your career, start by building your tribe.

TESTIMONIALS:

“Gianpiero brings the whole topic of leadership to life in a new and insightful way. His research, insights, and the thought-provoking way he delivers the results stand out. He can engage the audience in a way that the key messages will be remembered for a long time. World class.” CEO, Hays plc

“The audience loved Gianpiero’s delivery style, which is immensely engaging. He has a wonderfully refreshing view of the type of leadership that is required for the workplace of today … Importantly his views are supported by well researched data giving them real credibility.” CEO, Great Place to Work Institute, Ireland

“Gianpiero closed the CIPD’s annual conference of over 1,000 delegates in 2016. … He exceeded expectations, delivering big and challenging messages with charm and a heart.”Strategy Director, CIPD

Gianpiero is an outstanding, world-class speaker in the area of leadership development and organisational design / effectiveness. He teaches solid, trustworthy content in an engaging and truly interactive manner. … He is a star faculty and at the same time a collaborative partner committed to delivering content that fits best with an organisational context.”Head of diversity and inclusion, Prudential plc